LIBRARY 

UWV«S1TY  OP 


THE  ORIGIN 

OF 

THE  MODERN  SYRIAN 


BY 


KALIL  A.  BISHARA,  B.  A.,  B.  D.,  Ph.  D., 

of  the  Presbytery  of  Baltimore 


AL-HODA  PUBLISHING  HOUSE 

81  West  Street,  New  York  City,  U.  S.  A., 


LOAN  STACK 


E 


a 


SPECIAL  REFERENCE 

Should  be  made,  in  regard  of  this  publication,  to  my 
friend,  N.  A.  MOKARZEL,  Esquire,  of  New  York,  the 
author  and  able  editor  of  the  daily  "Al-Hoda,"  who, 
besides  suggesting  to  me  the  treatment  of  the  subject 
in  Arabic,  has  also  generously  undertaken  to  publish 
this  work  at  his  own  outlay. 

For  personal  interest  and  kindly   encouragement,   I 
^  him  my  grateful  thanks. 

THE  AUTHOR. 


211 


TO  THE  PERSONIFIED  "COMMON  SENSE"  OF  THJEL 
AMERICAN  PEOPLE,  IN  THE  NAME  OF  THE  "SQUARE 
DEAL/'  IN  BEHALF  OF  THE  SYRIAN  IMMIGRANT, 
THE  AUTHOR  CONFIDENTLY  DEDICATES  THI& 
HUMBLE  TREATISE. 

— Kalil  A.  Bishara. 


INTRODUCTORY. 


It  is  the  purpose  of  this^  treatise  to  set  forth,  with 
a  fairly  high  degree  of  precision,  the  evidence  con 
ducive  to  the  determination  of  the  racial  identity  of 
the  modern  Syrian.  Speaking  sometime  since  with 
certain  uninformed  Orientalists  on  this  subject,  I  was 
amused  to  hear  them  speak  of  it  as  one  of  the  prob 
lems  to  be  solved  by  the  present  day  ethnologist.  To 
me,  insufficient  as  my  research  and  finding  may  be, 
the  "origin  of  the  modern  Syrian"  is,  relatively  speak 
ing,  one  of  the  simplest  questions  to  decide,  especially 
if,  in  considering  it,  we  restrict  ourselves  to  the  bulk 
of  the  population,  irrespective  of  any  individual  or 
group  of  individuals  in  particular.  The  point  to  be 
determined  is  this :  Is  the  main  stock  of  the  modern 
population  of  Syria  Caucasian,  Mongolian  or  African 
— White,  yellow  or  black.  Of  course,  purity  of  race 
is  out  of  the  question  altogether,  since  it  would  be 
a  most  difficult  task  to  discover  anywhere  in  the 
world  a  really  unmixed  race. ' 

The  White  or  Caucasian  race,  let  it  be  borne  in 
mind,  is  composed  of  Semitic,  Hamitic,  and  Aryan  or 
Indo-European  peoples.  (1)  Professor  Sayce,  with 


(i)  Mercy's  "Outlines  of  Ancient   History,"  p.    15. 


some  modification,  states  that  "Semites,  Aryans,  and 
Alarodians — belong  to  the  White  Stock,  and  may 
thus  be  said  to  be  varieties  of  one  and  the  same  orig 
inal  race."  (1)  Of  the  Hamites,  he  says,  "The  Hamites 
were  none  of  them  black-skinned,  with  the  possible 
exception  of  a  part  of  the  population  of  Cush."  (2) 

The  proper  treatment  of  this  subject  naturally 
falls  under  two  main  heads:  1.  The  peoples  of  Syria 
in  pre-historic  times ;  2.  The  Syrian  people  in  history. 
The  second  division  may  be  sub-divided  into,  1.  An 
cient;  and  2.  Modern;  each  of  these  two  subdivisions 
being  divisible  again  according  to  the  various  elements 
constituting  the  population,  such  as,  a.  The  Semitic 
element,  represented  by  the  Canaanites ;  b.  The  Aryan 
element,  represented  probably  by  the  Amorites;  and 
c.  The  unclassified  element  the  chief  representatives 
of  wThich  were  the  Hittites  and  the  Philistines. 

Under  "modern,"  we  shall  discuss  the  later  invad 
ing  settlers,  beginning  with  the  Arameans,  down 
wards  respectively  to  the  Greeks,  the  Romans,  the 
Crusaders;  and  ending  with  the  most  modern  im 
migrants  from  Europe  and  Asia. 

I  shall  devote  a  special  chapter  to  the  origin  of  the 
Hittites,  a  problem,  we  must  own,  as  obscure,  just 
now,  as  anything  in  the  laboratory  of  the  Elixiric 
alchemist. 


(1)  A.  H.  Sayce's  "Races  of  the  Old  Testament/'  p.  50. 

(2)  Do.,  p.  41. 


The   outlining   paradigm   of   this   treatise   runs   as 
follows : 


Introduction. 


C    i.  Horis    (aboriginal) 
I.  Prehistoric  j     2.  Babylonians 
L    3-  Egyptians 


f  A.  Semitic    (Canaanites), 
!  B.  Aryans    (Amorites?), 
i.  Ancient    -  c-  Unclassified    (Hittites   &    Philis- 


f    I.  Ancient       <-   Unclassi 

II.  Historic]  tines), 

t    2.  Modern    f  A.  Aramea; 


Modern    fA.  Arameans, 
!  B.  Arabs, 

]  C.  Greeks  &  Romans, 
L  D.  Europeans. 


III.  The  Hittites. 

Summary. 


I.  PREHISTORIC  SYRIA. 

It  is  a  bold  assertion  to  say  that  we  can  speak, 
with  any  degree  of  certainty,  of  the  prehistoric  age  of 
Syria,  the  term  strictly  applied.  We  may,  quite  ap 
propriately,  speak  of  a  stone-age  in  Syria.  In  this 
sense,  prehistoric  Syria  would  be  that  country  as  it 
was  before  the  alphabet  was  invented,  or  rather  before 
it  was  reduced  by  the  Phoenicians  (Syrians  them 
selves)  to  its  present  phonetic  form.  According  to 
this,  we  are  bound  to  confine  ourselves  within  the 
period  falling  between  2000  and  1000  B.C.— the  period 
of  Babylonian  influence  and  civilization,  under  Baby 
lonian  and  Egyptian  suzerainty.  What  information 
we  may  catch  by  the  line  and  hook  of  patient  inves 
tigation  relative  to  this  dumb-tongued,  secret-keeping 
period,  is  derived  mainly  from  monumental  sources. 

From  modern  explorations  we  gather  that  the 
Syrian  population  of  the  stone-age  consisted  of  isolat 
ed  communities  planted  in  the  country  without  inter 
marriage  or  the  slightest  fusion,  (1)  notwithstanding 
the  fact  that,  in  the  main,  they  were  all  members  of 
the  Semitic  race,  the  natural  possessors  of  that  country 
for  many  ages  antecedent  to  the  earliest  Egyptian  in 
vasion.  (2)  The  only  other  power  to  whose  rule  the 
country  had  submitted  was  Babylonia,  whose  lan 
guage  was  for  many  centuries  the  international  lan 
guage  of  all  the  civilized  world  in  the  East,  as  authori- 


(1)  Geo.  Cormack's  "Egypt  in  Asia,"  chap.  Ill,  p.  25. 

(2)  Do.,  p.  26. 


tatively  revealed  by  the  Amarna  letters,  which,  besides 
being  written  in  that  language,  refer  to  Babylonian 
gods  and  Babylonian  civilization.  (1) 

Consequently,  the  only  prehistoric,  ethnological 
problem  in  Syria  would  be  to  determine  the  origin  of 
each  of  the  Babylonian  and  Egyptian  nations.  Certain 
authors  have,  indeed,  endeavored  to  establish  another 
question  relative  to  the  aborigines  of  the  country  at 
the  coming  of  the  earliest  Semitic  invaders.  But,  of 
an  aboriginal  race,  says  George  Cormack,  it  is  almost 
vain  to  speak,  since  the  Horites  of  the  Old  Testa 
ment  (Gen.  14:6)  are  the  only  possibility  on  record, 
and  they  were  extinguished  by  the  Edomite  invad- 
ers.  (2) 

1.  The  Horites. 

These  Horites,  in  all  probability,  were  not  only 
of  Caucasian  descent,  but  of  the  blonde  division  there 
of.  Their  very  name  suggests  "whiteness."  It  is 
Hari  in  Hebrew;  and  Hoor  in  Arabic,  (3)  from  verb 
Hawira :  to  be  shining  white.  (4)  Hence  the  strong 
presumption  that  the  aboriginal  Syrians  were  pure 
Caucasian  blondes  of  Aryan,  Semitic,  or  Aryo-Semitic 
stock. 


(1)  Geo.  Cormack's  "Egypt  in  Asia,"  chap.  VIII,  pp.  119,  120. 

(2)  Do.,  chap.  Ill,  pp.  25,  26 — See,  Deut.  2:12,  22. 

(3)  PI.  Ahwar,  Hatira. 

(4)  Other    derivatives :    Hawari=one   who    whitens    clothes ; 
Hoowara  =  very  white  flour;  Hawaryah:  white  or  fair  woman; 
etc.  See  A.  H.  Sayce's  "Races  of  the  O.  T.",  p.  115. 


to 


2.   Syria  a  Province  of  Babylon. 

Of  the  early  Babylonians  in  Syria  we  know  ab 
solutely  nothing  conclusive.  Of  one  thing  we  are 
certain,  however,  that  Babylonian  influence,  during 
the  later  prehistoric  periods,  was  very  strong  in  that 
country.  This  would  indicate  that  Syria  must  have 
yielded,  in  its  remote  antiquity,  to  Babylonian  sway. 

Whether  there  was  any  fusion  between  the  con 
quered  peoples  and  their  rulers  or  not,  the  Babylo 
nians  of  those  days  were  Semites,  at  least  in  language, 
characteristics  and  manner  of  living.  On  the  author 
ity  of  George  Cormack,  "The  earliest  achievement  of 
the  Semitic  people  was  the  conquest  or  the  coloniza 
tion  of  Babylon,  in  the  fourth  millennium  B.  C."  (1) 
If  that  be  so,  then  no  strange  blood  was  introduced 
into  Syria  thru  the  Babylonian  conquest.  Where 
upon  the  same  author  is  unhesitatingly  able  to  speak 
of  "the  Semitic  world,  from  the  Persian  Gulf  to  the 
Nile"  (2)  (in  speaking  of  the  latter  days  of  the  Hyc- 
sos  in  Egypt.)  (1) 

There  is  nothing  startling  in  those  modern  histo 
rians  who  speak  of  the  "Sumerians"  as  the  aboriginal 
race  of  earliest  Babylonia.  In  point  of  fact,  however, 
this  extinct  race  has  never  been  known  to  come  into 
the  slightest  communion  writh  the  peoples  of  Syria. 
The  Babylonians  who  pushed  their  conquests  as  far 
West  as  the  Mediterranean  were  Semites;  and  the 


(1)  "Egypt  in  Syria,"  p.  29. 

(2)  Do.,  p.  34- 


II 


Babylonian  laws  that  were  introduced  into  Syria  were 
the  laws  of  the  Arab  Khammurabi,  uncontroversially 
of  pure  Semitic  descent.  (1) 

3.  Syria  an  Egyptian  Province. 

That  there  is  Egyptian  blood  in  the  modern 
Syrian,  is  a  matter  of  conjecture.  However,  there 
remains  to  be  considered  the  fact  that,  in  the  period 
from  1600  to  1300  B.  C.,  parts  of  Syria  were  under 
Egyptian  rule.  (2) 

The  Egyptians  seem  to  have  been  deficient  in  the 
genius  of  colonizing,  so  that  all  we  can  safely  say 
about  their  period  of  conquests  in  Syria,  is,  that  they 
were  content  to  exact  tribute;  (3)  having  probably 
to  keep  a  permanent  army  of  occupation  in  the  prov 
ince  conquered,  to  hold  the  restless,  liberty-loving 
Syrians  in  subjection.  (4)  So,  on  the  possible  presump 
tion  that  the  present  Syrian  is  not  free  altogether 
from  Ancient  Egyptian  blood,  we  shall  briefly  inquire 
into  the  ethnological  question  of  the  builders  of  the 
pyramids. 

The  earliest  settlers  of  the  valley  of  the  Nile  were 
undoubtedly  of  Hamitic  origin ;  (5)  but,  in  the  course 
of  time,  the  Semites  invaded  the  country,  and  made  it 


(1)  See  any  authentic  Encyclopedia;  esp.  Ency.  Brit.,  VoL 
III,  tinder  "Babylonia  and  Assyria,"  V,  history. 

(2)  C.  R.  Conder's  "Syrian  Stone-Lore,"  I.  C. 

(3)  Geo.  Cormack's  "Egypt  in  Syria,"  Ch.  XIII,  p.  177. 

(4)  Do.,  ch.  VI,  pp.  87,  90. 

(5)  Gen.   10 :6. 


12 


•a  part  of  the  Semitic  world.  And,  whether  Semites 
or  Hamites  or  a  mixture  of  both,  the  ancient  Egypt 
ians,  who  were  originally  Asiatics,  belonged  to  the 
Caucasian  race,  for  the  following  reasons :  a.  Their 
own  traditions  clearly  point  to  the  fact  that  the  up 
per  classes,  at  least,  were  of  Arabian  descent.  (1)  They 
called  South  Arabia,  their  earliest  home,  the  Land 
of  Pun.  (1).  b.  Their  appearance  is  identical  with  that 
of  South  Arabians.  (1)  c.  Their  language  bears  re 
semblance  to  both  Semitic  and  Aryan  languages,  altho 
slightly  affected  by  African  tongues.  (2)  d.  Their  own 
consciousness  of  the  fact  that  they  were  Whites.  Says 
Prof.  Sayce,  "The  Egyptians  belong  to  the  white 
race ;  and  they  knew  it ;  the  skin  of  the  men  is  painted 
red;  the  skin  of  the  women,  who  protected  themselves 
from  the  sun,  is  a  pale  yellow  or  even  white.  (3) 

Prof.  Vircshow  came  to  the  same  conclusion,  as 
serting  that  the  Egyptian,  like  the  Canaanite,  belongs 
to  the  white  race.  (4) 

As  for  the  Hycsos,  who  ruled  Egypt  500  years, 
terminating  with  the  fall  of  the  17th  dynasty,  the 
highest  authorities  pronounce  them  Semites — Arabs 
or  Phoenicians.  C.  R.  Conder,  quoting  Manetho,  af 
firms  'that  there  is  hardly  any  doubt  that  the  Hycsos 
were  Semites.  (5)  And  Herodotus  seems  to  maintain 


(1)  A.  H.  Sayce's  "Races  of  the  Old  Test",  ch.  V,  pp.  91-93. 

(2)  C.  R.   Conder's  "Syrian  S'tone-Lore,"  I,  C. 

(3)  "Races  of  the  Old  Test.",  V,  p.  83. 

(4)  Do.  Ill,  p.  42. 

(5)  "Syrian  Stone-Lore,"  I,  C. 


that  the  Philistines  of  Syria  are  the  remnants  of  the* 
Hycsos.  (1)  George  Cormack  held  the  same  opinion 
where  he  stated  that  the  Hycsos  were  500  years  in 
Egypt,  the  consequence  of  which  being  that  the  18th 
dynasty  that  succeeded  them  had  a  considerable  Semi 
tic  element  in  the  population  of  Egypt.  (2)  Corrob 
orating  the  opinion  of  Herodotus,  Cormack  believes 
that  the  Hycsos  fled  to  Syria,  and  built  Jerusalem; 
and  that  the  Egyptians  followed  and  reduced  the 
country.  (3)  In  a  previous  chapter  the  same  author 
had  said,  "When  the  Egyptians  of  the  new  empire 
invaded  Syria,  its  inhabitants,  whatever  their  diversity 
in  respect  to  manners  and  government,  were  almost 
all  members  of  that  great  family,  the  Semitic  race  — 

,  and  that  race  had  already  been  in  possession 

of  Syria  for  many  ages.  (4) 

The  upshot  of  the  whole  matter  is  that  the  Ancient 
Egyptians  were,  in  the  main,  Semites,  in  language, 
civilization,  appearance  and  traditions,  with  an  admix 
ture  of  other  Caucasian  constituents;  and  that  when 
they  invaded  and  conquered  Syria,  this  country  was 
inhabited  by  Whites,  almost  all  Semites.  (5) 

This  closes  the  1st  chapter  of  this  treatise  with, 
the  deep  impression  that  prehistoric  Syria  was  the 


(1)  Herod,  ii.   128. 

(2)  "Egypt  in  Asia,"  Vi,  92. 

(3)  Do.,  V.  71. 

(4)  Do.,    ch.    iii,   p.   26. 

(5)  Unless  the  Amorites  be  Aryans. 


home  of  several  tribes,  in  their  majority  Semites,  in 
their  totality  Whites.  In  the  next  chapter,  we  shall 
analyze  the  Syrian  of  history. 

II.  THE  HISTORIC  SYRIAN. 

In  order  to  facilitate  the  study  of  the  ethnological 
question  of  the  Syrian,  it  would  be  best  for  us  to 
divide  the  period  of  his  historical  existence  into  two 
sections,  Ancient  and  Modern.  Under  "Ancient,"  we 
shall  treat  of  the  earlier  or  Canaanite  period,  and  the 
latter,  or  Aramean  period;  the  earlier  period  being 
concerned  with  Semitic,  Aryan,  and  unclassified  tribes. 
Under  "Modern,"  we  shall  consider  the  elements  in 
troduced  into  Syria  subsequent  to  the  Greek  invasion, 
under  Alexander  the  Great. 


1.  The  Ancient  Syrian. 
A.  The  Canaanite  Period  (1500-1000  B.  C.) 

We  have  shown  in  the  first  chapter  that  as  early 
as  the  16th  century  B.  C.,  Syria  was  the  meeting  place 
of  Babylonian  and  Egyptian  elements.  Parts  of  the 
country,  especially  in  the  North,  are  known,  about 
that  time,  to  have  been  under  Cappadocian  Hittite 
(or  Hatti)  domination. 

For  convenience  sake,  we  may  divide  the  popula 
tion  of  Syria,  during  the  five  centuries  following,  into 
three  elements,  the  Semitic  (or  Canaanite),  the  Aryan 
(or  Amorite),  and  the  unclassified  (Hittites  and 
Philistines). 


a.  The  Ancient  Semitic  Tribes  in  Syria. 

These  are  the  Canaanites  of  the  Old  Testament 
and  other  sources  of  history.  (1) 

In  the  narrower  sense,  the  term  was  primarily 
indicative  of  the  Phoenicians,  and  several  other  tribes 
occupying  the  coasts  and  valleys  of  the  country.  With 
them  may  be  comprehended  the  Kenites,  the  Edo- 
mites,  the  Ammonites,  and  the  Moabites,  all  of  which 
are  allied  to  the  descendents  of  Abraham.  (2)  Hence, 
all  these  ancient  tribes  were  racially  white,  almost 
wholly  belonging  to  the  Semitic  family.  It  is  true 
that  the  Phoenicians  have  been  considered  by  a  few 
historians  as  having  been  of  Hamitic  descent;  but  by 
none  have  they  ever  been  racially  enlisted  as  any 
thing  but  white. 

The  following  citations  on  this  fact  are  taken  from 
Geo.  Rawlinson's  "History  of  Phoenicia." 

In  the  3d  chapter  of  his  excellent  book.  (3),  Raw- 
linson  says,  "The  Phoenicians  are  generally  admitted 
to  be  Semites  (Assyrians,  later  Babylonians,  Arame- 
ans  or  Syrians,  Arabians,  Moabites,  Phoenicians  and 

Hebrews) The  Phoenician  language  is  purely 

Semitic." 

The  original  home  of  the  Phoenicians  is  the  earl 
iest  home  of  the  Ancient  Semites,  and  probably  all 
of  the  white  race.  Says  the  same  author,  quoting 


(1)  See  Sayce's  "Races  of  the  Old  Test.",  VI,  128. 

(2)  Sayce's   "Races  of  Old  Test.",  p    115. 

(3)  Do.,  p.  49. 


i6 


the  father  of  history,  "Both  the  Phoenicians  them 
selves  and  the  Persians  best  acquainted  with  history 
and  antiquities,  agreed  in  stating  that  the  original 
settlements  of  the  Phoenician  people  were  upon  the 
Erythrean  Sea  (Persian  Gulf),  and  they  had  migrated 
from  that  quarter  at  a  remote  period,  and  transferred 
their  abode  to  the  shores  of  the  Mediterranean."  (1) 

Strabo  (2),  and  Trogus  Pompeius  (3)  are  also 
quoted  as  bearing  the  same  testimony  in  tracing  the 
Phoenicians  back  to  the  neighborhood  of  the  Persian 
Gulf  as  their  original  home.  And  the  weighty  words 
of  the  great  Renan  serve  to  cement  and  fortify  the 
whole  matter.  Says  the  high  authority  of  modern 
French  hostorians : 

"The  tradition  relative  to  the  sojourn  of  the 
Phoenicians  on  the  borders  of  the  Erythrean  Sea, 
before  their  establishment  on  the  coast  of  the  Medi 
terranean,  has  thus  a  new  light  thrown  upon  it.  It 
appears  from  the  labors  of  M.  Movers,  and  from  the 
recent  discoveries  made  at  Nineveh  and  Babylon,  that 
the  civilization  and  religion  of  Phoenicia  and  Assyria 
were  very  similar.  Independently  of  this  the  majority 
of  modern  critics  admit  it  is  demonstrated  that  the 
primitive  abode  of  the  Phoenicians  ought  to  be  placed 
upon  the  lower  Euphrates,  in  the  midst  of  the  great 
commercial  and  maritime  establishments  of  the  Per- 


(1)  Herodotus  I,  2;  VII,  89. 

(2)  Strabo  XVI.  3,  §4- 

(3)  Trogus  Pompeius,   Hist.  Philipp.  XVIII.  3,  §2. 


sian  Gulf,  agreeably  to  the  unanimous  witness  of  anti 
quity."   (1) 

It  goes  without  saying,  that  the  people  having 
Semitic  characteristics,  Semitic  physical  construction, 
Semitic  language,  Semitic  traditions,  must  be  a  Sem 
itic  people.  Such  were  the  Phoenician  people ;  and  no 
authentic  evidence  to  the  contrary  is  to  be  found 
anywhere. 

b.  The  Ancient  Aryan  Tribes  in  Syria. 

The  second  group  of  the  ancient  tribes  inhabiting 
Syria,  is  the  group  designated  by  the  term  "Amorites," 
probably  comprizing  the  Amorites  of  Mt.  Lebanon, 
the  Shasu  of  South  Palestine,  the  Hivites,  the  Re- 
phaim,  the  Jebusites,  the  Anakirri,  and  the  Zamzum- 
mirn.  These  tribes  were  all  blonde,  having  blue  eyes 
and  light  hair.  (2)  That  is  probably  the  only  reason 
why  certain  historians  claim  they  were  of  pure  Indo- 
European  stock,  in  contradiction  to  a  great  many 
others  who  do  not  hesitate  to  pronounce  them  full- 
blooded  Semites  (3) 

In  my  opinion,  notwithstanding  the  possibility 
that  those  ancient  mountaineers  might  have  been 
Aryans,  yet  there  is  nothing  to  militate  against  their 
being  Semites.  In  cold  mountainous  climes,  Semites 
have  been,  and  are  still  known  to  have  light  hair  and 


(1)  Kenan's   "Histoire  des  langues   Semitiques,"  p.   183. 

(2)  See  Sayce's  "Races  of  the  O.  T.,"  pp.  113,  119,  121,  128. 

(3)  See  C.  R.  Conder's  "Syrian  Stone-Lore,"  I,  B,  p.  35. 

2 


iS 


"blue    eyes;    as    Indo-Europeans   in    hot    climates   are 

•  designated  by  black  hair  and  black  or  brown  eyes. 
The  Greek,  the  Roman,  the  Persian,  the  Armenian, 

:  and  even  the  Hindoo,  were,  in  all  likelihood,  all 
blonde  once;  and  what  is  their  color  now?  Even  the 
German  and  the  English  are  rapidly  shedding  their 
fair  skin  for  the  more  desirable  dark-shaded  complex 
ion  ;  while,  on  the  other  hand,  the  Semitic  Jew  in  cold 
Russia  and  other  parts  of  North  Europe,  is  making 

-large  strides  in  vying  with  the  red-headed  Irishman. 
The  sun  is  no  respecter  of  persons,  nor  has  he  ever 

!been. 

This  second  group  of  Ancient  Syrian  tribes,  then, 
•whether  of  Semitic  or  Aryan  stock,  is,  like  the  first 
..group,  of  Caucasian  origin,  beyond  the  least  shadow 
<of  doubt. 

<:.  The  Unclassified  Tribes  of  Ancient  Syria. 

Of  these,  the  most  prominent  are  the  Hittites  and 
"the  Philistines.  As  for  the  Hittites,  theirs  appears  to 
be,  just  at  present,  an  unsolvable  problem,  for  which 
we  shall  devote  an  entire  chapter  (See  ch.  Ill  below)  ; 
focusing  our  attention  meanwhile  on  Goliath 'and  the 
•clandestine  order  of  which  he  was  a  worthy  member. 

The  Philistines  of  Ancient  Syria. 

The  Philistines  were  very  prominent  in  the  twelfth 
century,  B.  C.  Like  a  thunderbolt  from  a  clear  sky, 
they  appeared  in  South  Syria  at  a  time  when  Egypt 
was  recoiling  around  its  own  .axis,  .and  fought  against 


her  shrinking  armies.  And  when  the  pharao  with 
drew  his  army  of  occupation,  Syria  was  necessarily 
committed  to  the  hands  of  the  Philistines  (in  the 
South)  and  the  Hittites  (in  the  North.)  (1) 

As  to  their  origin,  the  Philistines  were  either  of 
Semitic  or  Aryan  stock.  (2)  Their  language  is  clearly 
Semitic. 

Herodotus  had  the  following  opinion  of  them: 
"Probably  the  Philistines  of  Syria  are  the  remnant 
of  the  Hycsos.  (3) 

This  opinion  does  not  seem  to  shed  much  light 
on  their  origin.  If  the  original  Hycsos  were  Arabs 
or  Phoenicians,  then  their  remnant,  i.  e.,  the  Philis 
tines,  were  Semites  in  general  with  probably  a  small 
strain  of  Egyptian  blood  in  them.  (4)  At  any  rate, 
they  would  be  racially  Caucasian.  But  if  the  Hycsos 
were  originally  Hittites,  which  is  not  improbable, 
then  we  know  absolutely  nothing  definite  about  the 
origin  of  the  Philistines,  except  that  there  was  a 
Caucasian  Egyptian  element  in  them. 

On  the  other  hand,  if  Herodotus  is  wrong  in  his 
conjecture,  and,  according  to  certain  modern  scholars, 
the  Philistines  came  as  pirates  from  Crete  or  Cypress, 
(5)  then  the  race  problem  is  satisfactorily  solved,  and 
the  philological  question  reasonably  explained  away, 
since  it  is  highly  probable  that  these  Greek  pirates 


(1)  Geo.  Cormack's  "Egypt  in  Asia,"  XIII,  p.  227. 

(2)  Hastings   Diet.   Bible. 

(3)  Herod.  II,  p.   128. 

(4)  On  the  presumption  that  the   Egyptians  were  not  pure 
Semites. 

(5)  Hastings  Diet.  B. 


settled  in  Syria,  where  a  higher  civilization  existed, 
and  is  there  anything  more  natural  than  their  having 
adopted  the  language  and  manners  of  their  hosts — a 
striking  instance  of  the  irregular  law  of  the  survival 
of  the  fittest. 

Dr.  J.  D.  Davis,  in  his  Bible  Dictionary,  (1)  main 
tains  that  the  Philistines  originally  came  from  Caph- 
tor,  an  isle  or  sea-coast  not  unknown  to  the  prophets 
of  Israel.  (Jer.  47:4;  Amos  9:7).  The  same  authority 
further  holds  that  the  Philistines  as  a  whole  were 
Cherethites,  i.  e.,  probably  Cretans  (1  Sam.  30:14; 
Ezek.  25  :16  ;  Zeph.  2  :5)  ;  and  Caphtor  was  perhaps  the 
island  of  Crete. 

The  weight  of  evidence  in  the  light  of  this  latter 
theory,  clearly  leans  toward  the  highly  creditable 
presumption,  that  if  not  Semites,  the  Philistines  were, 
like  the  Greeks,  of  the  Aryan  family  of  nations,  and 
consequently,  as  genuinely  Caucasians  as  anything  on 
earth. 

B.  The  Aramean  Period,  (1000-300  B.  C.). 

As  early  as  2000  B.  C,  Arameans  were  found  east 
of  Syria  proper;  but  not  till  the  year  1200  B.  C.  did 
they  begin  to  penetrate  into  the  country,  "finding 
there  a  population  for  the  most  part  probably  Semitic." 
(2).  This  great,  irresistible  torrent  of  Semitic  emigra 
tion  overran  the  country  of  Syria  so  completely  as  to 


(1)  See  under  "Caphtor,"  and  "Philistines." 

(2)  New  Schaff-Herzog  Encyclopedia,  XI,  p.  229. 


21 


change  the  manners  and  racial  character  of  the  natives, 
thus  forming  the  main  stock  of  the  population  in 
modern  times.  (1) 

The  Arameans  were  firmly  established  in  parti 
cular  in  Damascus ;  and  with  the  exception  of  a  short 
period  of  subjection  to  King  David,  the  kingdom  of 
Aram  Dammesck  was  always  a  thorn  in  the  flesh  of 
Israel,  until  the  year  733  B.  C,  when  Tiglath-Pilesar  II 
overthrew  the  kingdom  of  Damascus;  (2)  thus  bring 
ing  Aramean  rule  to  an  end  in  a  country  best  re 
presenting  the  Aramean  stock.  The  Assyrian  con 
quest  was  concerned  only  with  terminating  the  Ara 
mean  civil  sovereignty,  leaving  the  traditional  in 
fluence  and  moral  sovereignty  intact.  In  fact,  the 
Aramean  spirit  in  all  circles  and  departments  of  life 
in  Syria  persisted  unimpaired  all  through  the  Persian 
rule,  which  lasted  until  the  year  332  B.  C.,  when 
Alexander  the  Great  became  the  master  of  Syria  and 
the  world ;  and  the  Aramean  blood  in  the  country 
began  to  be  reinforced  by  Aryan  blood,  and  Aramean 
civilization  to  be  extensively  hellenised.  (3) 

Under  the  general  term  "Arameans,"  may  be  in 
cluded  the  Hebrews  and  thei'r  kinsmen,  the  Sama 
ritans,  since  they  all  belonged  to  the  same  stock,  and 
lived  together  in  their  first  primitive  home ;  and  the 


(1)  See.  Geo.  Cormack's  "Egypt  in  Syria,"  pp.  240,  268. 

(2)  Encyclo.   Brit.,  Cambridge  Edition,  Vol.  XXVI,  p.  308. 

(3)  See  Conder's  "Syrian  Stone-Lore,"  ch.  V,  p.  196. 


22 


Bible  expressly  designates  the  Hebrews  as  descend- 
ents  of  an  Aramean  father.  (1) 


THE  HEBREWS. 

Owing-  to  their  deliberate  seclusion,  the  Hebrews 
have  never  made  a  figure  in  forming  the  permanent 
Syrian  stock.  For  centuries  they  were  in  full  pos 
session  of  the  Land  of  Promise,  until  they  were 
carried  away  into  captivity,  first  by  the  Assyrians, 
then  by  the  Babylonians,  and  finally  reduced  to  a  civil- 
figure-head  by  the  Romans,  who  destroyed  their  State, 
and  the  capital  of  their  State,  thus  terminating  their 
national  existence,  and  forbidding  them  from  even 
entering  within  the  walls  of  their  holy  city  on  pain 
of  death.  (2) 

At  all  events,  it  is  a  fact  past  discussion  that  the 
bulk  of  the  Hebrew  people  are  of  pure  Semitic  descent, 
their  genealogy  going  back  to  Jacob,  to  Abraham, 
and  to  Shem.  (3) 


THE  SAMARITANS. 

With  regard  to  the  Samaritans  (who  at  present 
form  a  small  community  of  100  to  200  people  in 
Nablus  (Syria)  and  its  vicinity,  we  may  confidently 


(1)  Deut.  26:5. 

(2)  John  D.  Davis'  Diet.   B.,  under  "Jerusalem." 

(3)  Gen,  X.     See  also  I  Chron.  MX. 


state  that  they  are  the  identified  survivors  of  the  ten 
tribes  of  Israel,  with  an  admixture  of  other  Semitic 
constituents. 

When  Samaria,  in  721  B.  C,  was  reduced  by  Sar- 
gon,  this  great  Assyrian  conqueror  brought  Babylo 
nians  over  to  Palestine  to  inhabit  Samaria  which  had 
been  made  almost  desolate  by  the  Northern  captivity. 
(1)  Then  again,  in  719  B.  C.,  the  same  monarch  dis 
patched  men  from  Minni  and  Armenia;  and  4  years 
later  (715  B.  C.)  he  transported  Thamudite  Arabs 
to  Samaria  (cf.  2  Ks.  17:24)  (2).  These  transplanted 
subjects  were  totally  Whites. 

All  further  considerations  of  the  present  day 
Samaritans  go  to  prove  the  certainty  of  the  fact  that 
the  supplanting  successors  of  the  followers  of  Jere- 
boam  the  First  are,  at  least,  as  much  Caucasians  as 
the  Modern  Jews  are. 

We  have,  for  instance,  the  physical  type  of  the 
people.  It  is  purely  Semitic,  bearing  striking  re 
semblance  to  the  Muhammadan  Arabs,  and  especial 
ly  those  of  the  great  plains  of  Northern  Arabia  (seem 
ingly  the  purest  living  representatives  of  the  typical 
Semite).  (3) 

Then  there  is  the  Samaritan  Alphabet,  which  is 
not  of  Aramaic  origin;  and  which  leads  us  to  sup- 


(1)  2  ks.  17:6,  24. 

(2)  Gender's  "Syrian  Stone-Lore,"  p.  161. 

(3)  Do.  cf.  Sayce's  "Races  of  the  Old  Test,"  p.  28. 


pose  that  the  Modern  Samaritans  are  the  true  rep 
resentatives  of  the  Ancient  Hebrew  stock  in  manners 
as  well  as  in  literature.  (1) 

We  conclude  from  what  has  been  said  in  this 
chapter  that  the  early  Aramean  invaders  found  Syria 
in  the  hands  of  tribes  for  the  most  part  of  Semitic 
descent,  with  the  exception  of  probably  the  Hittites 
in  the  North,  who  had  descended  upon  the  country 
from  Cappadocia,  as  we  shall  see  later  on ;  (3)  and 
the  Amorites,  supposed  to  be  Aryans.  (3) 

.This  closes  the  Ancient  period  of  Syrian  history, 
without  being  marred  by  the  least  authentic  intima 
tion  that  other  than  Caucasians  had  ever  pitched  a 
tent  or  set  up  a  pillar  in  the  land  of  Shem  lying  be 
tween  the  Great  River  and  the  Great  Sea. 

2.  The  Modern  Syrian, 

In  dealing  with  a  country  whose  beginnings  re 
trace  their  course  five  to  six  thousand  years  back  on 
the  High-way  of  the  Past,  (4),  it  is  not  at  all  arbi 
trary  to  set  the  starting  point  of  its  modern  history 
at  332  B.  C.,  the  year  in  which  Syria  became  a  Greek 
province,  by  the  conquest  of  the  Great  Macedonian. 
This  period  is  divisible  into  three  eras :  A.  The  era 
of  the  Greeks  and  Romans,  ending  in  the  year  732 
A.  D. ;  B.  The  Arab  era,  continuing  to  the  present 


(1)  Cf.   Conder's  "Syrian  Stone- Lore,"  p.   161. 

(2)  See  chap.  Ill  below. 

(3)  See  chp.  II,  I,  A,  b  above. 

(4)  Sargon  of   Agade   led  his  armies   thru   Syria  as   early 
as  3750  B.  C.     See  Davis'  Bib.  Diet.,  under  "Babylonia." 


day;  C.  The  era  of  European  invasion  and  immigra 
tion,  marked  first  by  the  Crusades  in  the  llth  century, 
A.  D. 


A.  The  Greeks  and  Romans  in  Syria. 

It  is  not  my  purpose  in  this  paragraph  to  discuss 
the  race-question  of  the  Greeks  and  Romans,  but 
simply  to  show  to  what  extent  these  Aryan  peoples 
came  in  contact  with  the  Syrians.  There  is  not  the 
least  doubt  that  the  Roman  element  in  Syria  never 
amounted  to  any  perceptible  degree.  But  the  in 
fluence  of  the  Greeks,  says  Conder,  "was  no  less  mark 
ed  in  Syria  than  that  of  the  earlier  civilizations  of 
Egypt,  Chaldea,  and  Persia."  (1)  That  Syria  was  hel- 

lenised  to  a  considerable  extent,  is  apparent  from  the 
fact  that  with  Antioch  (Syria)  as  the  capital,  the 
Seleucidan  dynasty  ruled  over  the  greatest  Greek 
empire  known  to  history  (with  the  exception  of  the 
short-lived  empire  of  Alexander  the  Great.)  Lan 
guage,  manners,  blood,  and  all  else  were  greatly  af 
fected,  so  that  the  native  Semitic  dialects  were  long 
in  danger  of  being  shrunken  into  eternal  inaudibility, 
were  it  not  for  a  remnant  of  rural  peasants,  who,  like 
the  Teutons  of  England  in  the  days  of  the  Normans, 
clung  most  tenaciously  to  the  tongue  of  their  fathers ; 
and  in  the  course  of  time,  the  Greek  language  had  to 
give  way  to  the  Aramaic,  then  to  the  Arabic ;  and  the 


(i)  "Syrian   Stone-Lore,"  ch.  V,  p.  196. 


26 


Greek  element  in  Syria  was  to  all  appearance  Semitic- 
ized  and  Syrianized.  But  no  sharp  observer  can  fail  to 
detect  the  almost  pure  Greek  type  among  the  Chris 
tians  of  the  Phoenician  coast  towns,  (1)  where,  ow 
ing  to  the  dominance  of  Muslims,  amalgamation  has 
never  been  feasible. 

Without  going  any  further  into  establishing  the 
incontrovertible  evidence  for  the  presence  of  Greek 
elements  in  the  formation  of  modern  Syria,  and  into 
the  likelihood  of  the  presence  of  a  Roman  vein,  suffice 
it  to  assert  that  these  two  nations  are  counted  among 
the  highest  members  of  the  Caucasian  family  of  races, 
so  that  Semitic  Syria  is  by  no  means  ashamed  of  their 
introduction  into  her  communities,  nor  of  their  par 
ticipation  to  the  constitution  of  her  modern  popula 
tion. 

B.  The  Arab  Element  in  Modern  Syria. 

Geographically  speaking,  Syria  is  naturally  a  part 
of  Arabia.  North  and  East  Syria  have,  from  time  im 
memorial,  been  inhabited  by  Arabian  tribes.  Damascus 
and  the  Hauran  (Bashan)  district  were  for  centuries 
held  by  the  Gassanite  dynasty,  first,  independently, 
then  as  deputies  of  Rome  and  Constantinople.  At 
the  time  the  Apostle  Paul  was  converted,  a  Gas 
sanite  Arab,  Alhareth  (Aretas),  was  the  King  of 
Damascus.  (2)  Later  on,  in  the  8th  century  A.  D. 


(1)  See  Encyclop.  Brit.,  Camb.  Edition,  Pop.,  Vol.  XXVI, 

P.  307. 

(2)  2  Cor.  11:32. 


27 


Damascus,  the  capital  of  Syria,  became,  under  the' 
Omyyads,  the  capital  of  the  whole  Arabian  world,, 
extending  from  the  Wall  of  China  in  the  East  to 
the  Atlantic  Ocean  in  the  West.  At  the  present  time, 
taking  the  country  in  general  into  consideration,  about 
75  per  cent,  of  the  Syrian  people  are  Muslims,  and 
consequently  for  the  most  part,  pure  Arabs.  The 
Druses  of  Syria  are  nearly  all  of  Arab  descent,  origin 
ally  migrating  from  Hira  and  Yemen,  Arabia.  (1) 
Even  the  Christians  of  Syria  have  a  liberal  proportion 
of  Arab  blood  in  their  veins — especially  in  the  North, 
South  and  East.  In  a  word,  Modern  Syria  may  be 
safely  regarded  a  part  of  the  Arabian  W^orld,  (2)  with 
regard  to  language,  customs  and  blood. 

The  Arabs  are  indisputably  the  purest  type  of  the 
Semitic  race,  (3)  in  consequence  of  which  they  are 
fully  qualified  to  be  accorded  a  better  claim  upon  the 
White  Race  than  that  of  any  modern  nation  of  Europe, 
which,  more  than  once  in  her  history,  was  overrun  by 
Huns  and  Scythians — large  Mongolian  hordes  who 
finally  settled  in  that  continen  tand  became  an  in 
tegral  part  of  her  population.  (4) 

C.  The  European  Element  in  Modern  Syria. 

Racially  making  a  general  classification  of  Modern 
Syrians,  we  would  unhesitatingly  catalog  them  with 


(1)  Encyclo.  Brit.,  Camb.   Edtn.  Pop.,  Vol.  VIII,  p.  605. 

(2)  The  Arameans  were  originally  Arabians. 

(3)  A.  H.  Sayce's  "Races  of  Old.  Test.,"  P.  28,  cf.  p.  71. 

(4)  Johnson's  Universal    Encyclo.,   Vol.   IV,  under  "Huns."" 
See  esp.  Vol.  V,  under  "Mongolia." 


28 


the  Semitic  nations,  which  simply  implies  that  the 
Semitic  element  is  the  predominating  one  in  that 
country.  Attention  must  be  directed,  however,  to 
the  Aryan  element  in  the  nation.  It  has  already  been 
pointed  out  to  us  that  the  Ancient  Amorites  are  sup 
posed  to  have  been  Aryans  by  a  few  of  the  leading 
scholars  of  the  day.  (1)  We  have  also  been  assured 
that  the  conquering  Greeks  and  Romans,  on  evacuat 
ing  the  land,  left  behind  an  Aryan  element  of  the 
highest  type.  (2) 

And  now  we  come  to  consider  briefly  the  latest 
deliberate  invasion  of  Syria  by  Aryans  from  the  West. 
I  refer  to  the  Crusaders  (1095-1249). 

These  European  enthusiasts  waged  war  against  the 
Muhammadans,  with  the  intention  of  recovering  the 
Holy  Land,  and  succeeded  in  establishing  in  Jerusalem 
a  kingdom  that  lasted  about  200  years.  French, 
English  and  German  combined  together  in  the  effort 
which  ended  in  complete  discomfiture.  (3)  In  spite 
of  the  downfall  of  Christian  power,  however,  several 
European  families  (designated  by  their  names)  made 
Syria  their  home,  and  have  since  been  assimiliated  thru 
inter-marriage,  especially  in  the  provinces  where 
Christian  influence  dominates. 

The  present-day  colonists  from  Russia  and  Ger 
many,  will  in  time  be  transmuted  by  amalgamation, 


(1)  See  II,  i,  B,  above. 

(2)  See  II,  2,  B,  above. 

(3)  For  a  full  account  of  the   Crusades,  see   Phil.    Schaff's 
"History  of  the   Christian  Church,"   Vol.  V,  under  "Crusades." 


and  another  Indo-European  element  will  be  added  to 
the  Modern  Syrian  Nation,  unquestionably  the  finest 
type  of  Semitic  and  Aryan  stocks  blended  together. 

111.  THE  HITTITES  IN  SYRIA. 

The   Hittites   are  the  missing  link  of  history,  re 
cently  discovered  in  the  monuments  of  Egypt  and  the 
inscriptions  of  Assyria,  to  verify  and  corroborate  the 
statements    given   in   the   Scriptures    respecting   their 
national    life.      It    certainly    sounds    queer    that    the 
nation    whose    sway   was   once   paramount   from   the 
Archipelago  to  the  Euphrates ;  the  nation  that  imperi 
ously  said,  Halt!  to  Ramses  II,  the  greatest  of  Egypt 
ian   monarchs,   and   dictated   to   him   the   humiliating 
"Great  Treaty"  which    for   ever  sealed  the   doom   of 
Egypt  as  a  prospective  world-power;  the  nation  that 
withstood  for  400  years  the  almost  irresistible  military 
aggression    of   Assyria,   the    first    great   world-power 
in   history.      I    say    it    sounds   almost   incredible  that 
such  a  powerful  nation  should  so  suddenly  slip  into 
the  background  of  the  Unknown,  that  only  fifty  years 
since  it  would  have  raised  a  sneer  among  secular  his 
torians  and  ethnologists  to  make  even   the  slightest 
intimation    that    a    Hittite   people    ever   existed   any 
where.     Despite  the  strong  assertions  of  our  Sacred 
Records,  and  the  positive  remonstrances  of  our  able 
scholars,  the  only  definition  admitted  and  recognized 
in  scientific  circles  of  that  age  concerning  the  Hittites, 
was  one  similar  to  that  accorded  to  the  "Honest  Amer- 


lean  Indians,"  namely,  that  "they  belonged  to  an  ex 
tinct  race  that  never  existed."  But  in  the  light  of 
modern  research  and  close  investigation  in  Assyria, 
in  Egypt  and  in  North  Syria,  we  have  come  to  know 
this  extinct  people  as  a  real  Simon  Pure  fact,  being 
no  other  than  the  Kheta  of  Egyptian  monuments,  the 
Hatti  of  Assyrian  records,  the  Greek  Kifreiot  of  Homer 
in  his  Odyssy  (XI:521),  and  the  Hittim  of  Hebrew 
Scriptures. 

I  do  not  claim  in  this  review  to  solve  the  hitherto 
unsolved  or  unsolvable  points  of  the  Hittite  question, 
such  as  their  racial  identity,  or  the  exact  groove  on 
the  magical  wand  of  obsolete  languages  into  which 
their  sphynx-silent  dialect  may  be  cast — altho  I  shall 
not  treat  these  points  of  inner-circle  interest  with  ut 
ter  disregard ;  but  one  and  only  one  point  stands  up 
permost  in  my  mind,  while  I  write — and  that  is  some 
thing  no  other  writer,  to  my  knowledge,  has  ever 
clearly  brought  out — namely,  that  whatever  their 
nationality,  and  to  whatever  group  of  tongues  their 
dialect  belonged,  the  Hittites  cast  not  the  faintest 
shadow  of  suspicion  over  the  ethnological  identity  of 
the  modern  Syrian  as  a  high-spirited  Semite  in  parti 
cular,  and  a  pure  Caucasian  in  general,  being  in  the 
main  a  worthy  descendent  of  the  amalgamated  galaxy 
of  such  leading  peoples  as  the  Arameans,  the  Arabs 
.and  the  Greeks. 


1.  Let  us  take  up,  first,  the  original  home 
of  the  Hittites. 


Uncontroversially,  the  Orientalist  historians  of 
Europe  and  America  are  of  the  opinion  that  the  Hit 
tites  were  of  Asiatic  origin.  But  they  seem  somewhat 
to  differ  among-  themselves  on  the  matter  of  locating 
the  starting-post  of  their  migration,  whence  they  set 
out  on  their  military  campaign  Southward. 

Col.  Sir  Charles  Wilson  maintains  that  the  Hit 
tites  came  originally  "from  the  Anatolian  plateau  East 
of  the  Halys."  (1)  According  to  C.  R.  Conder,  (2) 
Prof.  Sayce  holds  that  the  Hittites  emigrated  either 
from  the  Caucasus,  or  from  Cappadocia.  (3)  Dr.  Wm. 
Wright,  (4)  substantiating  other  authorities,  endeav 
ors  to  connect  the  Hittites  with  the  Georgians.  And 
Dr.  John  D.  Davis,  in  his  B.  Diet.,  believes  that  the 
"Hittites  first  lived  among  the  snow-clad  range  of 
Taurus  and  the  Armenian  mountains." 

From  all  this  we  conclude  that  the  children  of 
Heth  were  Western,  or  near  Eastern,  Asiatics,  flour 
ishing  originally  somewhere  to  the  North  of  Syria, 
in  a  part  of  the  world  for  the  possession  of  which  the 
representative  armies  of  all  three  sons  of  Noah  measur 
ed  lances  and  crossed  scimitars. 


(1)  Quarterly  Statement  of   Palestine   Exp.   Fund,   for  Jan. 
1884. 

(2)  Syrian  Stone-Lore,  I,  A. 

(3)  Sayce's   Memoir   of    Hittite  Monuments. 

(4)  See  his  "The  Empire  of  the  Hittites,"  vii.  p.  82. 


II.  The  Language  of  The  Hittites. 

Owing  to  the  fact  that  both  the  Bible  and  certain 
Egyptian  inscriptions  give  to  a  great  many  Hittites 
Semitic  names,  the  tendency  among  the  earlier  philo 
logists  of  the  19th  century  was  to  pronounce  the  Hit- 
tite  language  as  being  purely  Semitic,  Reginald  S. 
Poole  making  it  "nearer  to  the  Hebrew  than  to  the 
Chaldee."  (1) 

But  later  discoveries  have  shown  that  "most  Hit- 
tite  names  seem  to  be  of  non-Semitic  origin."  So  are 
Brugsch  and  Sayce.  (2)  For  about  one  thousand  years 
the  neighbors  of  Semitic  communities,  these  scholars 
argue,  the  Hittites  could  not  but  introduce  Semitic 
names  into  their  own  communities  and  their  family 
circles. 

Now,  if  the  language  of  the  Hittites  was  not 
Semitic,  what  was  it,  then? 

Prof.  A.  H.  Sayce,  who  is  expertly  interested  in 
Hittite  remains,  has  an  opinion  to  propound  on  the 
subject,  which  Dr.  Wm.  Wright  strongly  favors  as 
being  quite  reasonable. 

Prof.  Sayce's  view  is  that  the  language  of  Heth 
"belongs  to  the  Alarodian  family  of  speech  of  which 
Georgian  is  a  modern  representative/'  (3)  "The  com 
munity  of  language,"  he  further  asserts,  "is,  there 
fore,  white."  (3) 

Pursuant  to  the  better  views  of  modern  authorities, 


(1)  Wm.  Wright's  "The  Empire  of  the  Hittites,"  ch.  vii.  79. 

(2)  Do.,  pp.  81-82. 

(3)  "Races  of  the  O.  T.,"  VII,  p.  134.  cf.  "The  Empire  of 
the  Hittites,"   VII,   pp.  82-84. 


33 


then,  it  seems  advisable  to  hold  it  as  highly  probable 
that  the  Hittite  dialect  was,  in  the  main,  of  the  Alaro- 
dian  group  of  Caucasian  languages,  tho  influenced  to 
a  considerable  extent  by  the  Semitic  dialects  spokea 
in  Ancient  as  well  as  Modern  Syria. 

Thus  far,  we  have  in  stock  two  fairly  well-estabn- 
lished  facts  which  may  be  of  great  value  in  determin 
ing  further  suppositions  regarding  the  Hittites.  1.  We 
are  led  to  believe  that  the  Hittites  came  originally 
from  a  country  recognized  to  be  a  part  of  the  White 
World.  And  we  are,  2.  told  that  the  community  of 
their  language  is,  also,  white. 

III.  We  shall  proceed  next,  very  briefly,  to  discoss 
the  ethnological  question  of  the  Hittites.  What 
was  their  nationality? 

Unreservedly  we  must  acknowledge  that  the  Om 
niscient  Maker  of  Heaven  and  Earth  alone  knows  to 
what  race  this  strange  people  belonged.  Neither  is 
there  in  sight  any  hope  of  ever  persuading  the  cir 
cumference  of  any  decent  circle  to  pass  thru  their 
three  points  of  identification,  to  wit,  language,  orig 
inal  home  and  snouty  face.  Had  it  not  been  for 
their  repulsive  ugliness,  as  represented  on  foreign 
monuments,  and  native  remains,  so-called,  the  Hittites 
would  comfortably  pass  for  Caucasians,  on  the  ground 
that  they  grew  on  Caucasian  soil  and  spoke  a  Cauca 
sian  language.  But,  unfortunately,  a  few  deformed 
pictures  of  theirs  have  been  recently  excavated,  only 
to  make  the  Hittite  problem  as  knotty  as  a  lizard's 

3 


34 


tail,  unless  those  pictures  be  cases  of  foreign  caricature 
of  a  despicable  and  dreaded  enemy.  It  might  be  high 
ly  entertaining  to  give  a  few  of  the  leading  views  on 
•this  contestable  point. 

Prof.  Sayce  considers  the  Hittites  Alarodians  of 
Cappadocian  origin.  (1)  This,  of  course,  would  make 
them  in  all  probability,  Whites.  Mr.  Vaux  espouses  the 
theory  that  they  were  Persians.  (2)  Whites,  this 
time,  beyond  the  least  doubt.  Captain  Conder,  on  the 
contrary,  alleges  that  they  were  Turanians,  (3)  i.  e., 
of  unclassified  origin.  Col.  Sir  Charles  Wilson, 
respective  of  their  appearance,  proposes  the  following : 
"The  features,"  he  says,  "are  rather  those  of  a  north 
ern  people,  and  on  the  temple  of  Ibsamboul  the  Hittites 
have  a  very  Scythic  character."  (4)  This  would  assign 
for  their  aboriginal  fatherland  the  region  lying  North 
and  North  East  of  the  Black  Sea.  In  disavowing  the 
possibility  of  their  Semitic  origin,  George  Grove  says, 
(in  Smith's  Bib.  Diet.)  "The  Hittites  were  a  Hamitic 
race,  neither  of  the  country  nor  kindred  of  Abraham 
(5).  This  view,  by  the  way,  falls  in  line  with  the 
genealogies  in  Gen.  X.  6,  15,  where  Heth  is  declared 
the  grandson  of  Ham,  and  the  second  son  of  Canaan. 
But  Dr.  J.  D.  Davis  of  Princeton  is  characteristically 
cautious  in  stating  his  opinion. 


(1)  "Memoir  of  the  Hittite  Monuments." 

(2)  Conder's   "Syrian   Stone-Lore,"   I,   A. 

(3)  Do.  cf.  his  "Heth  and  Moab,"  p.  22. 

(4)  Quarterly  statement  of   Palestine   Exp.    fund,    for  Jan., 
1884. 

(5)  Wright's  "Empire  of  the  Hittites,"  VII,  p.  79- 


35 


He  leaves  it  an  open  question  by  simply  suggest 
ing  that  the  Hittites  were  connected  by  blood  or  con 
quest  with  Canaan. 

We  need  not  grope  any  further  in  the  dark,  citing 
more  of  these  contradictory  views.  The  point  to  keep 
in  mind  is  that,  after  all,  we  have  not  landed  any 
where.  The  Hittites  are  Whites  and  no  Whites,  just 
as  you  please.  And  there  we  drop  the  question,  just 
as  obscure  and  apparently  unsolvable  as  ever.  We 
know  absolutely  nothing  official  about  the  race-ques 
tion  of  the  Hittites. 

IV.  The  last  point  to  be  tortured  is  the  fate  of  the 
Hittites.  What  became  of  their  Empire?  What 
was  their  final  destiny  as  a  nation?  Have  they 
any  representatives  at  the  present  time? 

There  is  nothing  of  particular  interest  in  what  we 
have  of  the  history  of  the  Hittites.  Sturdy,  brave, 
and  persevering  as  they  were,  they  seem  to  have 
lacked  the  romantic  element  which  figures  very  high 
in  the  formation  of  enchanting  aesthetics,  as  expressed 
chiefly  in  literature  and  art.  The  main  points  of  their 
history — which,  by  the  way,  looks  to  me  more  like  a 
poor  antitype  of  a  variegated  patchwork  of  cast  off 
material  promiscuously  basted  together, — may  be 
briefly  stated  as  follows: 

In  the  year  1280  B.  C,  the  celebrated  "Great 
Treaty"  was  made  between  the  Hittites  and  the 
Egyptians,  as  the  outcome  of  a  great  struggle  for 
supremacy,  waged  for  500  years  by  Egypt  against 
Syria,  in  which  the  Egyptian  resources  were  so  para- 


lyzingly  exhausted,  the  Hittites  coming  out  victorious, 
that  the  latter  could  peremptorily  dictate  their  own 
terms  in  a  decisive  treaty,  whereby  they  disposed  of 
this  old  Southern  foe  so  as  to  be  free  to  apply  them 
selves  exclusively  to  whet  their  swords  and  gird  up 
their  loins  in  preparation  for  their  Northern,  and  far 
more  dreaded  foe,  namely,  the  Great  Empire  of  As 
syria. 

Just  before  this  volcanic  eruption  burst  out,  how 
ever,  a  frightful  hurricane  was  on  the  way  Northward, 
blowing,  once  more,  from  the  Valley  of  the  Nile.  The 
hosts  of  Israel  are  marching  to  the  land  promised  to 
Abraham  and  his  seed  forever,  under  the  leadership 
of  the  greatest  personality  of  B.-C.  times,  with  the 
express  injunction  to  inflict  an  exterminating  penalty 
upon  the  wicked  Canaanites,  including,  probably,  the 
Hittites,  who  are  at  any  rate  to  be  dispossessed,  if 
not  to  be  annihilated  altogether. 

At  the  arrival  of  the  Hebrews,  the  Hittites  natural 
ly  availed  themselves  of  every  opportunity  applicable 
to  check  their  progress.  Forming  one  of  the  chief 
constituents  in  the  confederacy  organized  against 
Israel,  the  Hittites,  with  their  allies,  were  signally 
defeated  in  the  decisive  battle  of  Merom,  (3)  which 
placed  the  destiny  of  the  whole  country  in  the  hand 
of  the  valiant  son  of  Nun. 

Later   on,   in    the    days   of   Solomon,   the   Hittites 


(i)  Josh.  9:1;    ii  :3. 


seemed  to  be  still  somewhat  independent.  (1)  The 
last  mention  the  inspired  writers  of  the  Scriptures 
make  of  the  Hittites  was,  during  the  life  of  the  Pro 
phet  Elisha.  (2) 

Here  abruptly  ends  the  history  of  the  Hittites  in 
Hebrew  Records. 

Successfully  frustrating  the  military  schemes  of 
the  great  warlike  monarchs  of  Ancient  Egypt,  and  in 
a  measure  surviving  the  sweeping  campaigns  of  Joshua 
and  David,  the  Hittites,  notwithstanding  their  seem 
ingly  inexhaustible  national  vitality,  even  they  had  a 
day  of  judgment.  And  their  inevitable  doom  was  sealed 
in  the  year  1100  B.  C,  when  the  all-conquering  armies 
of  Assyria  began  to  swing  their  stormy  slings  on  the 
frontiers  of  North  Syria.  The  bloody  contest  between 
waxing  Assyria  and  waning  Syria,  lasted  no  less  than 
400  years,  the  Hittites  on  the  defensive,  stubbornly 
holding  their  own,  until  the  year  717  B.  C.,  when  the 
terrible  Sargon,  one  of  Assyria's  ablest  monarch's, 
and  the  world's  great  conquerors,  won  his  mercilessly 
decisive  battle  from  Pisiri,  the  last  king  of  the  Hittites, 
whose  capital,  Carchemish,  was  razed  to  the  ground, 
and  whose  empire,  over  1,000  years  old,  was  forever 
terminated.  (3)  In  one  of  his  inscriptions,  Sargon 
vindicates  his  outrageous  achievement  in  this  brief 
statement:  "In  the  fifth  year  of  my  reign,  Pisiri  of 
Carchemish  sinned  against  the  gods."  (4) 


(1)  i  Ks.  10:29. 

(2)  2  Ks.  7:6. 

(3)  "The  Empire  of  the  Hittites,"  p.   122. 

(4)  See  "Records  of  the  Past,"  VII,  28-30. 


"In  the  sequel/'  quoting  Wm.  Wright,  "the 
Hittites  were  carried  into  captivity,  and  Assyrians 
were  placed  in  their  cities."  (1)  Thus  Syria  passes 
seriatim  and  in  toto  into  the  hands  of  Semite  masters, 
who  at  the  present  time  form  the  main  stock  of  the 
nation,  and  the  Hittites  disappear  from  history  in  the 
inscriptions  of  Sargon  B.  C.  717,  after  the  Israelites 
had  been  swept  from  Samaria  with  the  same  besom 
(2). 

This  is  the  end  of  the  children  of  Heth.  Like  the 
ten  tribes  of  Israel,  they  were  carried  away  into  cap 
tivity,  and  their  place  has  never  known  them  any 
more  since.  Nay,  it  went  even  worse  with  the  Hitti 
tes.  The  ten  tribes  are  supposed  to  be  represented  by 
a  small  community  of  modern  Samaritans,  about  150 
people  in  number.  Whereas,  the  poor  Hittites  are 
not  known  to  be  represented  by  a  living  soul  under 
the  sun.  Like  the  Amalekites,  rather,  they  seem  to 
have  been  totally  wiped  off  the  face  of  the  earth,  as 
tho  they  had  never  existed.  And  God's  verdict  has 
been  literally  as  well  as  metaphorically  executed,  that 
the  Canaanitish  tribes  were  to  be  expelled,  cut  down, 
and  utterly  destroyed,  conformably  to  the  eternal, 
moral  law,  solemnly  and  emphatically  enunciating 
that  the  wicked  shall  be  dried  up  and  cut  off  root  and 
branch,  their  light  turning  to  utter  darkness  and  their 
memory  chased  out  of  the  wrorld.  (3) 


(1)  "The  Empire  of  the  Hittites,"  p.   122. 

(2)  "The  Empire  of  the  Hittites,"  p.  123. 

(3)  Job   18:  16-19. 


SUMMARY. 

As  an  American  citizen,  I  appeal  to  the  American 
Common  Sense  to  consider  with  dispassionate  fairness 
the  following  facts : 

1.  We  have  ascended  the  stream  of  history  to  its 
remotest  antiquity,  in  our  endeavor  to  ascertain  the 
racial  identity  of  the  modern  Syrian,  with  the  result 
that  all  along  the  way  of  our  investigation,  from  the 
starting-point  to  the  terminal,  he  was  paraded  with 
this  badge  of  honor  on  his  breast :  "Caucasian  by  race, 
a  composite  Aryo-Semite."  We  have  plainly  shown 
that  Syria  has  always  been  the  rendez-vous  of  world 
powers,  in  consequence  of  which  the  modern  Syrian 
may  naturally  be  regarded  as  the  descendent  of  those 
leading  nations  which  have  made  the  history  of  the 
world — and  they  all  were  Caucasians.  Strictly  speak 
ing,  however,  the  main  stock  of  the  modern  population 
of  Syria  is  of  Aramaic,  Arabic,  and  Greek  origin. 

The  only  occupant  of  Ancient  Syria  of  unknown 
racial  identity  was  the  Hittite.  But,  like  several  other 
Canaanitish  peoples,  the  Hittite  was  doomed  to  utter 
destruction.  And  we  have  historically  proved  him 
an  extinct  race — exterminated  upward  of  two  thou 
sand  six  hundred  years  ago.  In  any  event,  the  Hittite, 
for  all  that  we  know,  might  have  been  a  genuine  Cau 
casian  race.  No  account  can  any  trust-worthy  ethnol 
ogist  take  of  this  Turanian  people  in  considering  the 
origin  of  the  modern  Syrian,  who  sprang  from  invad- 


.•'ing1  nations  of  later  times — with  the  exception  of  the 
-Arameans  who  entered  the  country  at  an  early  date. 

2.  The  modern  Syrian  is  an  Asiatic  in  the  sense 
feat  he  is  a  native  of  the  near  East,  a  section  of  the 

-primitive  home  of  all  white  peoples.  Syria  has  always 
been  a  part  of  the  Caucasian  world.  "Asiatics"  in  the 
"Asiatic  exclusion  laws"  was  clearly  meant  to  be  a 
synonym  of  "Mongolians"  as  applied  to  the  Chinese 

.  and  the  Japanese  and  other  peoples  of  the  far  East 
who  have  a  peculiar  type  of  civilization  of  their  own 
so  radically  different  from  our  Christian  civilization 

;  as  to  make  racial  amalgamation  and  national  assimila 
tion  with  respect  to  all  Mongolian  immigrants  almost 

•-.impossible.  Nothing  prejudicial  is  there,  we  must 
aver,  in  saying  that  wherever  Christian  civilization 
and  Pagan  civilization  come  together,  a  sharp  conflict 
is  inevitable.  Such  has  lately  been  the  case  on  the 
Pacific  Coast;  and  the  "Asiatic  Exclusion  Laws"  had 
been  enacted  in  anticipation  of  such  a  conflict  of  de- 

;  trimental    character.      But   no   such   collision    is    ever 

'IScely  to  be  generated  by  the  introduction  of  the  Syrian 
element  into  America,  for,  besides  the  similarity  exist 
ing  between  the  American  and  the  Syrian  ideals  in 
life,  owing  to  the  dominating  influence  of  the  Holy 
Scriptures  common  to  both  parties,  the  modern  Syrian 
is  by  nature  and  by  training,  the  living  picture  of 
Cosmopolitanism,  more  able  to  adapt  himself  to  his 
^environment  than  any  other  immigrant. 

3.  As  a  native  of  Asia,  the  Syrian  is  naturally  to 
.'be  classed  with  the  Armenian,  the  Hebrew,  the  Greek 


(Asiatic),  and  the  Persian.  And  to  debar  the  Syrian 
alone  from  our  American  citizenship,  would  be  as  glar 
ingly  unjust  and  inconsistent  as  it  would  be  imprudent 
to  generalize  the  rule  by  excluding  all  Asiatics,  White 
as  well  as  Yellow,  Christian  and  Heathen  together. 
For,  are  not  all  American  and  European  nations  of 
Asiatic  origin?  A  simple  retrospect  of  the  imagina 
tion  would  easily  land  all  Westerners  either  in  South 
Arabia,  or  on  the  coasts  of  the  Persian  Gulf,  both  of 
which  sites  are  in  Asia. 

4.  The  Syrians  are  undesirable,  some  of  us  may 
say !  Some  of  them  are — and  very  much  so,  too,  in 
verification  of  the  dictum  that  "The  worst  is  the  de 
generation  of  the  best."  This,  however,  may  be  said, 
and  at  least  with  fully  as  much  emphasis,  of  almost 
all  other  nationalities,  our  own  not  excepted.  "Un- 
desirability"  cannot  be  ascribed  to  "all"  Syrians.  Good, 
"desirable"  Syrians,  at  least,  should  be  admitted.  And 
if  the  "undesirable"  among  the  Syrians  are  to  be  re 
jected — which  is  absolutely  legitimate — so  should  the 
"undesirable"  of  all  other  nationalities  be  rejected, 
which  is  the  actual  case,  as  enunciated  in  the  Immi 
gration  laws  of  our  "Commerce  and  Labor  Depart 
ment."  In  addition  to  that,  let  us  not  forget  that  if 
our  country  is  flooded  with  criminals,  anarchists,  and 
extreme  socialists,  these  pestilential  parasites  are  com 
ing  to  our  shores,  not  from  Syria,  nor  from  any  part 
of  Asia,  but  from  South  Europe.  The  Syrian  char 
acteristically  is  a  diligent,  peace-loving,  law-abiding, 
God-fearing  merchant  of  unlimited  ambition,  in  spite 


of  the  fact  that  his  character  has  been  marred  in  a 
period  of  servility  and  suppression  of  long  duration. 
He  is  now  taking  large  strides  in  redeeming,  redressing 
and  reasserting  himself,  by  identifying  his  destiny 
with  that  of  this  wonderfully  resourceful  country  of 
reassuring  opportunities.  Let  us  not  checkmate  him, 
but  generously  sustain  and  encourage  him,  as  we  see 
in  him  a  future  citizen  worthy  of  living  in  our  Demo 
cratic  Commonwealth,  under  an  untainted,  liberty- 
disseminating  flag. 

5.  The  Syrian  is  pre-eminently  the  most  popular 
man  in  history.  We  can  neither  deny  nor  be  blind  to 
the  significant  role  he  has  played  (or,  rather,  earnestly 
worked  out)  in  forming  this  wonderful  civilization  of 
which  we  are  rightfully  proud.  Not  to  say  anything 
of  the  actual  human  life  of  Jesus  of  Nazareth,  (Syria), 
nor  of  the  intrinsic  value  of  the  Holy  Scriptures  re 
vealed  to,  proclaimed  and  penned  by  Syrians,  let  us 
with  unbiassed  cogitation  dwell  upon  two  other  great 
historical  facts.  Consider,  first,  the  life  of  the  Apostle 
Paul,  the  Syrian  missionary,  with  his  glorious  work 
in  Europe  especially,  which  culminated  in  laying  a 
solid  foundation  for  the  Christian  civilization  of  mod 
ern  times.  Consider,  secondly,  the  immeasurably 
great  service  rendered  to  Europe  and  to  all  the  West 
ern  world  by  the  Syrian  Callinicus,  the  inventor  of 
the  "Greek  Fire"  which  saved  Constantinople,  the  key 
of  Europe,  from  falling  into  the  hands  of  the  all-con 
quering  Moslem  Arabs,  thus  affording  the  Christian 
continent  an  ample  opportunity  to  waken  and  set  up 


43 


means  of  defence  to  thwart  later  invasions.  As  it 
required  the  services  of  a  Syrian  Saint  to  sow  the  first 
seeds  of  Christian  civilization  in  the  West,  so  it  fell 
also  into  the  lot  of  a  Syrian  genius  to  come  to  its 
rescue  when  it  was  in  imminent  danger  of  extinction. 
That  much  the  Syrian  has  done  for  America  and  the 
world;  and  "that  much"  should  be  put  down  to  his 
credit.  The  Syrian,  moreover,  is  not  dead  yet — he 
still  lives  to  accomplish  his  allotted  task  on  the  field 
of  modern  civilization.  Don't  block  his  way !  Give 
him  a  chance ! 

6.  If  the  Syrian  is  legally  prohibited  from  enter 
ing  into  this  land  of  liberty,  he  undoubtedly  would 
sustain  a  crushing  forfeiture.  For  the  last  thirteen 
hundred  years,  the  original  native  of  Syria  has  been 
defending  the  faith 'of  his  fathers  with  his  blood.  For 
thirteen  centuries  past,  he  has  been  vexatiously  op 
pressed  by  foreign  yokes.  For  the  past  nineteen 
hundred  years,  his  sword  has  been  intermittingly 
drawn  in  defence  of  his  high  ideals.  Many  a  time 
has  he  been  almost  dislodged  and  dispossessed.  To 
exterminate  him  root  and  fruit,  more  than  one  con 
spiracy  have  his  task-masters  contrived.  Many  a  bitter 
cup  of  tyranny,  disappointment,  and  discomfiture  has 
he  been  compelled  to  drain  to  the  last  drop.  But  he 
has  outlived  all  of  these  prostrating  torments  and 
purgatorial  afflictions.  He  is  just  coming  out  of  his 
dungeon  to  enjoy  God's  air  and  light,  and  take  a  free, 
deep  breath  of  life.  Liberty-loving  America  should 
rejoice  with  him,  and  should  glory  in  the  fact  that  it 


44 


is  in  her  power  to  see  that  he  come  to  himself  and 
stand  on  his  feet,  by  extending  a  sympathetic,  helping 
hand  to  give  him  a  lift.  He  feels  he  is  only  migrating 
from  the  "old"  Land  of  Promise  to  the  "new"  Land  of 
Promise,  it  would  be  just  as  strange  as  it  is  un- 
American  to  throw  him  off  and  cut  him  adrift  in  his 
seeking  to  take  refuge  in  the  ''Land  of  the  Free  and 
Home  of  the  Brave." 

7.  And  lastly,  by  locking  her  doors  in  the  face  of 
the  Syrian,  America  herself  would  also  sustain  a  great 
loss.  As  a  Semite  myself,  and  as  an  American  proud 
alike  of  his  racial  origin  and  his  American  citizenship, 
I  most  emphatically  declare  that  our  national  char 
acter  needs  the  Semitic  element  in  it.  That  "pliability 
combined  with  iron  fixity  of  purpose,"  which  has 
developed  a  Moses,  an  Elijah,  a  Hannibal,  an  Amos, 
a  Paul,  a  Peter,  a  John,  not  to  begin  to  enumerate  that 
large  host  of  Fathers,  Prophets  and  Apostles;  that 
depth  and  force  coupled  with  capacity  for  the  hardest 
work;  that  love  of  abstract  thought  fortified  by  that 
ideally  realistic  grasp  of  ideals  in  the  realm  of  the 
invisible  and  the  spiritual ;  that  heroic  spirit  of  ab 
solute  trust  in  the  Deity  in  any  and  all  circumstances ; 
that  upward  look  towards  the  heights  perpetuated  by 
an  automatic,  self-prompting  feeling  of  hunger  and 
thirst  after  God,  the  source  of  all  life  and  light  and 
true  happiness — all  these  highly  developed  character 
istics  of  the  Semite  we  must  have  at  our  disposal  in 
forming  our  modern  national  character.  The  Syrian 
has  them  all,  and  he  is  the  only  one  to  give  them  to  us. 


45 


We  say,  We  have  the  Jew? 

Well,  the  Jew  is  a  fine  type.  But  the  Jew  is  a 
secluded  hermit  in  the  earth,  solitary  in  the  midst  of 
populous  society — a  crystallised  Separatist,  "a  Phar 
isee  of  the  Pharisees."  The  modern  Jew  racially  lives 
to  himself,  and  shall  indefinitely  remain  self-centred. 
He  has  lifted  up  his  hand  that  he  shall  never  desecrate 
his  racial  identity  even  tho  his  nation  should  eventual 
ly  embrace  Christianity  in  a  body. 

The  Samaritan  is  almost  extinct;  and  anyhow 
would  not  exchange  his  "Nablus"  for  the  very  "Elixir" 
or  the  "Fountain  of  Perpetual  Youth." 

The  Abyssinian  could  scarcely  be  regarded  as  a 
typical  Semite;  and,  at  any  rate,  neither  the  pass  of 
time  nor  the  love  of  adventure  has  ever  succeeded  in 
convincing  him  that  Texas,  Arizona,  South  California, 
or  even  Mexico  may  prove  to  be  as  comfortably  hot 
as  the  sand  deserts  of  his  continent,  whereupon,  as  a 
matter  of  fact,  he  has  always  liberally  given  himself 
the  benefit  of  doubt. 

The  Bedouin  of  Arabia,  with  his  strong  polygamic 
propensities,  can  never  tolerate  the  "moderately  pract 
ical"  clandestine  system  of  Utah.  He  also  considers 
it  most  unworthy  of  his  prowess  to  build  a  dungeon 
of  stone,  brick,  or  even  timber,  and  call  it  home,  and 
incarcerate  himself  within  its  clumsy  walls  for  weeks 
at  a  time,  not  to  say  years.  His  hair-tent  is  ideally 
good  enough  for  him — it  has  "utopially"  satisfied  him 
since  the  days  of  Abraham,  and  probably  many  cen 
turies  before. 


The  Syrian  alone  is  the  genuine,  "desirable"  Sem 
itic  timber  for  the  American  Structure  of  national 
character.  Let  us  welcome  him  to  our  shores. 

In  thinking  of  Syria  and  speaking  of  Semiticism, 
we  ordinarily  move  in  the  region  of  religion,  and 
point  the  telescope  of  our  imagination  toward  that  high 
degree  of  characteristic  spirituality.  As  a  matter  of 
fact,  however,  the  Syrian,  as  well  as  the  Semite  in 
general,  has  distinguished  himself  in  all  departments 
of  life  and  human  activity.  Besides  Moses.  Solomon, 
Isaiah,  Paul  and  Muhammad,  the  Semites  have  given 
to  the  world  the  immortal  Hannibal,  the  greatest  mili 
tary  genius  of  all  ages,  and  Nebuchadnezzar,  and  Sar- 
gon,  and  Khammurabi;  not  to  mention  any  of  the 
great  philosophic  sages,  and  the  unsurpassed  poets. 

But  apart  from  that,  even  in  the  department  of 
commerce  and  industry,  the  Syrian  has  never  been 
surpassed.  If  Judea  has  taught  the  world  how  to 
worship  the  only  true  God,  Phoenicia  did  teach  the 
world  how  to  make  money.  Jerusalem,  Tyre,  Athens, 
and  Babylon  were  the  foremost  cities  of  the  Ancient 
world  in  concentrating  power,  splendor  and  wealth, 
and  propagating  religion  and  philosophy.  Three  of 
those  leading  cities  were  purely  Semitic,  two  of  them 
(50%  of  the  total)  being  in  Syria  alone.  Even  Athens 
herself  must  go  back  for  her  philosophy  and  thinking 
to  Semitic  Chaldea,  Egypt,  and  Syria.  The  first  great 
Greek  philosopher  on  record  was  a  Syrian. 

Should  we  desire  to  have  a  comprehensive  idea  of 
what  the  Ancient  Syrians  on  the  shores  of  the  Medi- 


47 


terranean  did  to  develop  material  wealth  and  pop 
ularize  the  idea  and  practice  of  its  acquisition,  it 
would  fully  pay  us  to  peruse  Rawlinson's  masterpiece 
called  "The  History  of  Phoenicia."  A  short  passage 
of  it  should  be  sufficient  for  our  purpose  in  this  trea 
tise  to  indicate  just  how  far  the  world  is  indebted  to 
the  Syrian  with  regard  to  the  evolution  of  its  civiliza 
tion,  wealth  and  material  prosperity — in  addition  to 
the  moral  and  the  spritual. 

"They"  (i.  e.  the  Phoenicians),  says  Rawlinson. 
"were  the  great  pioneers  of  civilization.  Intrepid,  in 
ventive,  enterprising,  they  at  once  made  vast  progress 
in  the  arts  themselves,  and  carried  their  knowledge, 
their  active  habits  and  their  commercial  instincts  into 
the  remotest  regions  of  the  old  continents.  They  ex 
ercised  a  stimulating,  refining  and  civilizing  influence 
wherever  they  went.  North  and  South  and  East  and 
West  they  adventured  themselves  amid  perils  of  all 
kinds,  actuated  by  the  love  of  adventure  more  than  by 
the  thirst  for  gain,  conferring  benefits,  spreading 
knowledge,  suggesting,  encouraging,  and  developing 
trade,  turning  men  from  the  barbarous  and  unprofit 
able  pursuits  of  war  and  bloodshed  to  the  peaceful 
occupations  of  productive  industry.  They  did  not 
aim  at  conquest.  They  united  the  various  races  of 
men  by  the  friendly  links  of  natural  advantage  and 
mutual  dependence;  conciliated  them,  softened  them, 
humanized  them.  While,  among  the  nations  of  the 
earth  generally,  brute  force  was  worshipped  as  the 
true  source  of  power  and  the  only  basis  of  national 


48 


repute,  the  Phoenicians  succeeded  in  proving,  that  as 
much  can  be  done  by  arts  as  by  arms,  as  great  glory 
and  reputation  gained,  as  real  a  power  built  up,  by 
the  great  agencies  of  exploration,  trade  and  commerce, 
as  by  the  violent  and  brutal  methods  of  war,  massacre 
and  ravage.  They  were  the  first  to  set  this  example. 

If  the  history  of  the  world  since  their  time  has  not 
been  wholly  one  of  the  potency  in  human  affairs  of 
'blood  and  iron/  it  is  very  much  owing  to  them.  They 
and  their  kinsmen  of  Carthage,  showed  mankind  what 
a  power  might  be  wielded  by  commercial  states.  The 
lesson  has  not  been  altogether  neglected  in  the  past. 
May  the  writer  be  pardoned  if — he  expresses  a  hope 
that,  in  the  future,  the  nations  of  the  earth  will  more 
and  more  take  the  lesson  to  heart,  and  vie  with  each 
other  in  the  arts  which  made  Phoenicia  great,  rather 
than  in  those  which  exalted  Rome."  * 


*  Rawlinson's  "History  of  Phoenicia,"  p.  552. 


49 


In  the  Drummond-light  of  the  foregoing  presenta 
tion  of  the  case,  let  the  hope  of  the  author  be  that, 
in  the  heart  and  mind  of  every  thoughtful  reader  of 
this  humble  treatise,  common  sense  will  rivet  the 
self-evident  fact  that  the  Syrian  immigrant  is  in  no 
position  or  mood  to  apply  for  any  "favor" :  all  he 
wants  and  does  insist  upon  is  "Fair  Judgment  and 
Just  Treatment." 


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